No Magic Needed
by doorwaytoparadise
Summary: Martin tosses a coin into a wishing well, wishing that he had a friend. At that moment, out of nowhere, Douglas appears. For a prompt on the CP meme.


For this prompt from the CP meme:

_At a wishing well, Martin casually throws in a coin and says somewhat lonely to himself, "I wish I had a friend."_

_At that moment, out of nowhere, Douglas appears._

* * *

The gentle sound of rushing water. Children laughing. Sun shining brightly. Perfect weather. All things considered, this should be a gloriously perfect moment in life. Should be, that is, for anyone not Martin Crieff. A man notorious for his magnetic attraction to bad luck. A man who, by all means, should not put his faith in something like a wishing well. Especially one used as a tourist attraction. Still, he had nothing to lose from such a simple gesture, indulging in his old abandoned childhood faith in magic.

Martin holds the coin between thumb and forefinger, poised to throw it into the welcoming water. He sighs. What to wish for? A paying job, a better house, a girlfriend, success...happiness? So much he could wish for but frankly at this point in time, in his rather depressive state, he can only narrow his thoughts down to one definitive desire.

"I wish I had a friend."

The coin arcs through the air, light glinting off of it like a dramatic shot in a big-time film. Martin mentally scoffs at such a comparison. He has set himself up to not expect anything from such a ridiculous way of making a wish, so why does the moment feel so...significant?

At the exact moment that particular thought crosses his mind, the coin plops into the well with a small splash, and mere milliseconds after, a huff of breath comes from behind him.

Martin snaps his head around in surprise, realizing whoever it was was quite close, having felt the puff of air on the back of his neck. He blinks, dumbfounded.

"Something wrong, Captain? Or perhaps you are merely overcome with awe at the sight of my towering visage behind you."

"Douglas?"

"The one and only."

"What are you doing here?"

"Believe it or not, I do go out and enjoy fresh air once in a while. Though I will admit such a commercialized and cliché place as this is not my usual inclination. And I didn't think it was yours either."

"Oh, uh, n-no it's uh, it's usually not. Not-not really."

"Then what brings you here? Surely not the wishing well. Those never work, you know."

"O-of course not."

Yet as he denied this, Martin couldn't but wonder why on earth Douglas would show up out of the blue in such a bloody random location. Lucky he had appeared after Martin had thrown the coin and stated his wish. He would've had to endure the teasing for weeks. Although usually Martin was never so lucky with things like that. And now that he thought about it, Douglas appearing right after the coin landed made it almost seem like he was the wish being answe-

Martin's internal thought processes came to a screeching halt. He stopped. He rewound. He hit play. The scene repeated. There was no explainable reason for Douglas being there, at that specific time, or even finding him in such a crowd. Swiftly his mind flashed through all of his experience with MJN. The flights, the days on standby, all his interaction with Douglas.

Oh. Dear. God.

He came back to the present just in time to hear Douglas calling him.

"Martin? Still with us?"

"What? O-oh yes, still-still here. Just ah, just got lost in thought."

"Yes I noticed. Anyway, I was asking if you really believe in such rubbish as wishing wells."

"Well, um, there's some merit to it really."

'You here is proof_._' He wanted to say, but pride stopped him from admitting anything to his first officer. Said man gave a snort at Martin's answer.

"Arthur, I would expect, but you, Martin? Believing in such nonsense? I suppose you believe in miracles and such as well. And what did you wish for?"

"Doesn't matter, I got my wish. And of course I believe in miracles. Getting that wish is a miracle in and of itself."

Douglas raised an eyebrow, but decided not to push. Martin let a small satisfied smile creep onto his face, as both men turned away from the wishing well and began walking, no destination in mind, simply basking in the each other's presence.


End file.
